Maybe you understand the basic idea but struggle to predict exactly what will happen when videos are uploaded ?

Well, that’s understandable – the procedure is still inconsistent and unpredictable. Some songs are measured and normalized right away, others take weeks, some never seem to be normalized at all.

But it is happening – and YouTube just added an important new feature which can really help you get a grip on the process.

You can now see exactly what effect the system is having on our audio, because YouTube have exposed the normalization data in their interface. You just need to know where to find it – and what it means.[Read more…]

“What’s the ideal loudness for my music to get the best playback volume online ?”

Because people have realized that loudness normalization is a reality. They know that loud songs are turned down to stop users being blasted by sudden changes in volume – and they’ve probably heard some numbers: -13 LUFS for YouTube, -16 for iTunes and Pandora, -14 for Spotify and TIDAL… but which one should you choose ? Is there a perfect number, or do you have to submit different masters for every platform ?

In this post I’ll answer that question, simply and clearly.

(If you’re impatient, feel free to skip to the end – but please come back and read this explanation afterwards, too !)

Before that though, it’s important to realise – asking this question misses three key points.[Read more…]